Israel attacked targets in Syria with aircraft and artillery after unusual rocket fire from that neighboring country to the north, amid tensions between Muslims and Jews that reached a fever pitch in Jerusalem with simultaneous religious festivals.
Thousands of Jewish worshipers gathered at the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray, for a blessing ceremony for the Passover holiday.
In the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, a walled esplanade located just above the Western Wall, hundreds of Palestinians prayed as part of celebrations for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Hundreds of Jews also visited the Al-Aqsa complex under close surveillance by the Israeli police, while Palestinians protested their presence with catcalls and religious chants.
tensions
However, the government is now in power in Israel most right-wing in its historywith several ultra-nationalist leaders at the head of ministries.
The mosque and wall are located within East Jerusalem’s Old City, an ancient walled citadel that It is home to some of the holiest sites in Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
In turn, Jerusalem is located in the West Bank, the Palestinian territories under Israeli occupation since 1967. East Jerusalem is the part of the city with a Palestinian majority, which Israel annexed.
This Sunday is also Christian Easter, which was attended by hundreds of faithful a mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchrethe place in the Old Town where tradition places the empty tomb of Jesus Christ.
Speaking from the Vatican after celebrating Easter Mass, Pope Francis expressed his “deep concern” about the violence in Jerusalem and the Middle East, which he said threatens “dialogue” between Israelis and Palestinians.
Tensions rose last week when Israeli police raided the Al Aqsa mosque and beating Palestinian worshipers who were praying there for Ramadan, which caused a huge shock in the Arab world given the sanctity of the place.
On several occasions, Palestinians have barricaded themselves inside the mosque with stones and firecrackers, claiming the right to pray there at night, which Israel allows only in the last 10 days of Ramadan.
Police forcibly removed them last Wednesday, in an operation that it ended with more than 250 prisoners and 50 wounded.
The violence at the shrine has sparked rocket fire by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip and south Lebanon since Wednesday, and Israel has responded with airstrikes.
The Gaza Strip is governed by the anti-Israel Islamist movement Hamas.
from Syria
In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s press office announced that the head of the Islamist party, Hassan Nasrallah, received a delegation led by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The two discussed “the most important events in occupied Palestine, the course of events in the al-Aqsa mosque and the escalation of resistance in the West Bank and Gaza,” read a statement.
no group was officially awarded responsibility for the rocket attacks, but Israel blamed Hamas.
Saturday night and early this morning, Syrian militants fired two batches of rockets at Israel and the Golan Heights, the southern Syrian plateau annexed by Israel.
A Palestinian group based in Damascus has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, saying it was in retaliation for the Al-Aqsa raid.
A rocket landed in a field in the Golan Heights. Fragments of another destroyed missile fell into Jordanian territory near the Syrian border, Jordan said.
Two other rockets crossed the border into Israel, one was intercepted and the second landed in an open area, the Israeli military said.
Israel responded with artillery fire. against the area of Syria from where they were fired.
Subsequently, the army said that Israeli warplanes attacked Syrian army sites, including radar and gun emplacements.
Both Hezbollah and Syria and Hamas are allies of IranIsrael’s biggest rival in the Middle East.
Iran said on Thursday it would hold a non-military international naval manoeuvre “in support of the Palestinian people” in which some 3,000 ships of all types are expected to participate in Iranian waters and “ports around the world”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the violence in a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog on Saturday evening.
The Turkish president has said Muslims cannot remain silent on “provocations and threats” against the Al-Aqsa mosque, his office said.
Last Friday, a car bomb attack resulted in death of an Italian in Tel Aviv, while two Anglo-Israeli nuns were killed on the same day in the Palestinian enclave in the West Bank.
Following the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “the mobilization of all reserve border police units and additional forces”.
Yesterday, in the West Bank, the Israeli army a 20-year-old Palestinian man was shot and killed who, according to what was said, was inside a car from which shots had been fired at the military.
The tensions over Jerusalem are part of the most violent period in recent years in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
More than 90 Palestinians and 18 Israelis have been killed in the violence so far this year.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.